In recent years, as a result of the development of broadcasting technologies, a wide variety of programs are broadcast on a large number of channels not only by terrestrial broadcasting but also by CATV (Cable Television), satellite broadcasting, and the like. Also, as a result of the development of recording technologies, a large number of programs are automatically recorded onto a large-capacity storage medium.
In such a situation where many programs are available for viewing, there is a technique of selecting, based on program-related information such as an EPG (Electric Program Guide) transmitted together with video, audio, etc. of a program, similar programs that relate to the program and presenting the selected programs. According to this technique, the similar programs are selected by extracting keywords that characterize the program from the program-related information, and calculating a degree of similarity between programs using the keywords through numerical conversion. Also, a degree of similarity between programs is calculated with weights assigned to the keywords being varied according to program genre or the like.
Such a technique helps the viewer easily know the programs similar to the program, when he or she wants to know more about the program.